Moldova Opens Parliamentary Elections Amid EU–Russia Crossroads

cover Nativity Cathedral in Chisinau, Moldova, photographed in summer 2018. Photo by QuantumWasp, CC BY-SA 4.0 .

Voting began today in Moldova’s parliamentary elections, with President Maia Sandu urging citizens to head to the polls and warning that the country’s future is at stake, Orda.kz reports, citing The Kyiv Independent.

“Moldova, our dear home, is in danger and needs the help of each of you,” Sandu said after casting her ballot, according to Moldovan outlet Jurnal TV.

She cautioned voters against allowing “thieves and traitors” to sell off the EU candidate state’s prospects.

The elections in Chisinau are widely seen as a pivotal moment that could determine whether the small, landlocked nation stays the course toward European Union membership or drifts back into Moscow’s orbit.

In that worst-case scenario, we will have to postpone our European integration for many years,  Sandu added.

On Sept. 27, just one day before parliamentary elections, Moldovan authorities barred the pro-Kremlin Greater Moldova (Moldova Mare) Party from the ballot over alleged illegal financing.

The move came after the Central Electoral Commission also suspended the Heart of Moldova Party, part of the Russia-leaning Patriotic Bloc that aims to challenge the ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).

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